Mark Bernstein and Tyrell Collier

Detroit Free Press guest writers

Mark Bernstein, U-M regent

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Who are the victors at the University of Michigan after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Michigan’s affirmative action ban?

Not students who want to learn with — and from — other students who don’t look like themselves. Not researchers and scholars who value collaboration on diverse teams to solve big problems. Not employers who demand critical thinkers who are able to work with colleagues from vastly different backgrounds. And, most importantly, not our nation that needs leaders who are able to reach beyond their own identity to find inclusive solutions to our greatest challenges.

Eight years after Michigan voters passed Proposal 2 and banned the consideration of race and gender in admissions, we are still working through the wreckage.

In order to serve the people of Michigan and the world, the University of Michigan needs to look like all of Michigan and the world. But we don’t.

In the aftermath of Proposal 2, the university has tried virtually every possible race-neutral approach to preserve diversity. These efforts include aggressive outreach to lower income applicants. Schools within the university have increased attention to recruiting minority applicants. We enlist minority students, faculty and alumni to help persuade more admitted minorities to enroll. Family educational background is utilized as a form of socioeconomic affirmative action.

These efforts are not working.

In 2006, the last year race could be considered in the admissions process, African Americans accounted for 6.4% of the first-year class. By 2012, black enrollment fell 28%, to 4.6%. From 2006 to 2012, Hispanic enrollment fell 26%, from 5.3% to 3.9% of the first-year class.

When Proposal 2 passed, we lost the ability to utilize the best available tool to build a diverse educational community — affirmative action.

The statistics confirm the institutional challenges we face. But the experience of students on campus confirms what is at stake.

Tyrell Collier: As a black student, I see the significant decline in minority enrollment every day. On campus there are fewer students who look like me. Being the only black student in class has become the norm. This leaves me to carry an unfair burden that I didn’t ask for and that no other student must bear. It also shortchanges other students who only hear my singular voice on matters that deserve multiple perspectives.

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It’s getting worse, too. Every fall, when new students arrive on campus, the number of new black students is less than the year before. Student membership in the Black Student Union has fallen. Black student life remains vibrant, but it is at risk. Other minorities on campus face the same circumstance.

I love the University of Michigan. It’s been my home for the past four years. A home should be a place that provides familiarity and security. But an empty house never feels quite right.

Mark Bernstein: Before my election to the Board of Regents, I fought Proposal 2 as chairman of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission in 2006.

Proposal 2 was sold under the deceptive Orwellian banner of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, yet no legitimate civil rights organization supported this divisive and destructive campaign. Its civil rights “champions” highlighted the unfair treatment of white college applicants denied college admission because of preferential treatment benefiting black people. Of course, gender preferences were rarely mentioned.

Our state was denied the thoughtful conversation about affirmative action and diversity that it deserved. That denial continues today.

After Proposal 2 passed, its loudest champions failed to offer any alternative policy proposals. Nor did they pause to study the impact of their “victory.” They just moved on to swing their wrecking ball in the next state.

So while Proposal 2 supporters take their victory lap, we will continue our work in the face of this challenge. The stakes could not be higher because we fear that without affirmative action, Michigan’s only victors may be white. We firmly believe that the maize and blue colors of our great university are most vibrant when they represent real diversity.

Mark Bernstein is a regent of the University of Michigan and former chairman of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. Tyrell Collier is a senior at the University of Michigan and president of the Black Student Union.